Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/03/11

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Subject: Re: [Leica] price of art prints (was re: kyle's fine art)
From: "Dave Fisher" <tekapo@golden.net>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 18:24:00 -0500
References: <200203112247.OAA24073@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>

I'll probably annoy a few working pros in here, but Kyle is entitled to sell
his photographs for whatever he feels it is worth or what he will accept for
it. That is free enterprise (not to be confused with specious terms like
"free trade" and "tariffs", etc.). I find it interesting to observe the
Fugazi argument. They control their own product and marketing. They sell CDs
for $11 and concert tickets for $6. Oddly, for the decade of the 90s, they
made more money doing it *their* way than if they'd been on a "real" major
record label and sold 5x as many records and concert tickets. They made
sacrifices, cutting out all-consuming middlemen and the fantasy of ever
owning 50,000sq-ft mansions in Beverley Hills. It's simple grass-roots
economics of reputation and direct selling. There's plenty of good sage
advice and wisdom out there for beginners to heed, but the mantra of
refusing anything less than scale isn't valuable at all if it means
starving, declaring bankruptcy, selling your cameras, giving up your dream
and looking for a new job. Okham's razor. Independents have to stop
listening to the protectionist status quo and figure out what works for
them. Magazines and ad agencies aren't knocking down my door, but I have a
regular clientele that pays money, less than scale, but that means
belt-tightening until I'm in a position to refuse work, at which point I'll
charge much higher rates. My $0.02. Out.


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